Once Upon A Time In The West

UK Release Date. 31 August 1969
Certification. AA
Running Time. 2 hours 46 mins
Director. Sergio Leone
Cast. Charles Bronson, Claudia Cardinale, Henry Fonda, Jason Robards.
Rating. 98%

Review.

Sergio Leone's Once Upon A Time In The West is a near-faultless work of art. 

The masterfully constructed opening sequence sets the tone. An eight-minute nearly dialogue-less piece of cinema introduces three gunmen who, through piercing glares alone quickly take control of a deserted railway station. With the absence of a score, the only sounds are those of the station itself; the mechanical grating of a windmill, the dripping of water from a water tower and the incessant buzzing of a persistent fly. The painfully protracted sequence whilst the gunmen wait for the train to arrive is a product Leone's confidence and immense talent; the director is in no rush, and the slow-burn opening sequence is a masterclass in establishing tension. As the train departs the station, the audience experiences its first glimpse of the mysterious gunslinger, Harmonica (Charles Bronson) and his iconic haunting signature tune.

Indeed, Leone is in no rush to introduce the three other principal characters and their motivations and machinations. 

Cast against type, Henry Fonda is cast as a villain (Frank) for the first time in his career, and my what a villain. Up to that point in his career, Fonda was known for his portrayal of upstanding, noble characters. From his unforgettable introductory scene, the audience is left in no doubt that Frank is a ruthless, cruel, cold-blooded killer. 

Jason Robards stars as the incorrigible bandit, Cheyenne. The pragmatic Cheyenne is acutely aware that with the ultimate conquest of the West, the newly civilised frontier holds no place for men like Cheyenne. 

And finally, the heart of the film, Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale). Far from the damsel in distress in constant need of extrication - as she would be in nearly any other western of the time - Cardinale's performance stands as one of the most prominent examples of a strong-willed, resolute female character determined to forge her own destiny. 

Scenes like Once Upon A Time In The West's opening show Leone at his most masterful, demonstrating how he can build tension through nothing more than natural sounds. But as the opening sequence fades, we are introduced to Ennio Morricone's masterful score - both in the brutal The Grand Massacre and then accompanying Jill McBain, who has just travelled west from New Orleans to be with her newly wed husband Brett McBain (Frank Wolff). In a poignant, melancholic score, Morricone's sweeping piece, aptly titled Jill's America, seems to encapsulate the old West itself. Morricone wrote individual musical signatures for each of the four main characters, and the music is almost as important as anything in the script.

The film's screenplay was based on a story by Dario Argento and Bernardo Bertolucci, who prior to Once Upon A Time In The West were primarily known as film critics, rather than filmmakers. The film references several classic westerns; certain scenes are direct homages, such as a funeral which is a shot-for-shot take from Shane, while others are more reference points. High Noon for example, which also involves characters waiting for a train, or the location of the McBain farmhouse, situated on a desolate plot of land similar to The Searchers. Taken with this in mind, Once Upon A Time In The West could easily have been derivative, but instead, Leone crafts these western tropes and subverts them instead, skilfully producing a new creation entirely of recognisable parts. Leone’s inclusion of the signature locale of Monument Valley, Utah - so beloved by John Ford - lends Once Upon A Time In The West an intended Fordian splendour that the director had previously avoided. But in the Italian director's hands, Monument Valley feels like one of the hostile frontier landscapes from Leone’s earlier films, void of any natural redeeming beauty.

Sergio Leone unashamedly celebrates the films of John Ford - Stagecoach, My Darling Clementine, The Searchers and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance - by merging the setting and the theme with his own flourishes. Ford's idealistic storylines romanticised the frontier, but not Leone's. He explored the frontier in all its cruelty, providing the audience with a more realistic (if not historically accurate) viewpoint. Leone's principals were not cowboys looking to settle down or upstanding sheriffs protecting the dusty streets of Tombstone. His characters were gunmen, bounty hunters and bandits looking to carve out a meagre existence. Designations of good and evil are routinely left ambiguous; Leone acknowledged that the lawmen were often as corrupt as the outlaws they pursued, and that the frontier was a wild wasteland of lawlessness.  

Once Upon A Time In The West is undoubtedly one of the most stylish westerns ever made. All other elements, including narrative, remain residuary byproducts of that style. Almost operatic in nature - every set piece is artificially protracted, and every other scene free from dialogue. This is a film that takes its time, but by the end credits, you know you're in the presence of incomparable greatness. In the last 50 years, you can see how far the film, and Sergio Leone's influence has spread, across directors and even across different genres. A genuine cinematic masterpiece.